Tennis looks to ace new season

The spring season follows a successful fall campaign that saw two members of the team, Sophie Rufyikiri and Petra Horakova, make a deep run in doubles in the USTA/ITA Southern Regionals.

Head Coach Terrance De Jongh did not shy away from setting the team’s sites high this season.

“We want to go all the way as far as winning the conference,” he said

Leading the team will be Sophie Rufyikiri. The senior from Burundi has been a lightning rod for the success of Warhawk Tennis. Rufyikiri has played at the number 1 slot for the Warhawks since her sophomore year, amassing a number of awards over her career.

De Jongh said that Rufyikiri was ranked as the 18th best player in division one in the southern region. The southern region includes Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Rufyikiri said that she hopes to see the team beable to carry the momentum from the fall over from the spring campaign.

“I feel like we have already put in the work, and hopefully it’s going to keep going,” she said.

The team will begin their season with a couple matches on Thursday against Alcorn State and Southern. They will travel to Northwestern State for a matchup with the Demons next Sunday. The home schedule looks to also include the University of New Orleans, Nicholls State, UT-Arlington and instate rival UL-Lafayette.

The team will travel to Stephen F. Austin, LSU, McNeese State, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Jacksonville State, Troy, Mercer, Sourthern Mississippi, University of Texas at El Paso and Texas State.

The Warhawks will conclude their regular season at Texas State on April 4. The team will then be turning their attention the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans on April 16.